On Distant Shores
by ArdaSynle
Summary: AU. What happens if Iroh doesn't find Zuko after he is blown out of his ship? Where will He go? What Will he do? Crisis rocks the Earth Kingdom as the fire nation closes in and Zuko is faced with a moral problem. Who is worth fighting for? His nation? His Family? his Friends? The last living Dragons? Will his fighting even make a difference?. Rated T for terrible.
1. Chapter 1: It Hurts

AN: Before you start, it is worth noting that this story does not go on long because the ending is extremely rushed. There will hopefully be a sequel which will be the main story I am trying to tell

Chapter 1: It Hurts

 _Where am I?_ His head hurt, and nothing made sense. Slowly, memories began to trickle back into his mind. A Lizard Parrot. An explosion… _Damn pirates. Uncle alright? Did the ship survive?_ Zuko winced as he tried to piece his hurting mind together, and was reminded that not only his head hurt.

"Oh good your awake" A pretty girl, no more than 20, He wasn't really sure, he'd hardly seen anyone for three years other than his crew. But his mind was swimming too much to even bother with her age. She walked up to him, a curious twinkle in her eyes, "You sir have some explaining to do."

"Head…hurts" Zuko mumbled and promptly passed out.

 _000_

 _Poison? Brain… not… Azula didn't…_ Zuko struggled to concentrate but it was like trying to thread a needle while standing under a torrential waterfall. Everything was so screwed up. Memories shifted through his mind: Zhao seizing his crew, then his ship blowing up while he was on it, "hmmgph" Zuko groaned in pain.

"Are you going to stay awake on me this time?" the same pretty girl from earlier asked him

"Ugghh, uncle ok?" Zuko moaned through his pain

"I'll take that as a yes, start by taking this," The girl handed him a stone cup of sweet smelling yellowish liquid

"Poison… tea?" Zuko murmured still in a pain induced haze, and feebly attempted to sit up

"Don't be ridiculous, this is poppy honey tea, for the pain" the girl insisted then without waiting for a response tipped the small earthen cup back and poured the sweet liquid down Zuko's throat.

Zuko, too weak to spit it out just let it slide down his throat

Then everything went black… again

000

 _I need to get out of here_ Zuko thought as he awoke. Putting all of his willpower into moving, he swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up in one fluid motion. A wave of pain inundated his body, and blackness overtook him once again…

000

This time the girl was ready for her mysterious patient. She had strapped him up right to his seat after he passed out on the floor. As he had the last two days, he woke up at dawn. "I see you decided to join the world of the living" she tried.

Zuko suddenly aware that not only he strapped down, but he was also in the room with the same pretty girl. "whyam Ihere" he slurred, and winced from the pain of speaking

The girl sighed, "That, you will have to tell me"

"Can you … poppy tea?" Zuko murmured in his pain

"Of course, but you owe me answers" The girl replied, and went to a cabinet and pulled out several pots and mixed various ingredients, all the while humming a melancholy tune

Zuko agreed, no longer caring if she meant to poison him and took the mixture and drank. It was sweet, but had an acidic bite to it.

"So what is your name?"

" Itsuh zu"- _Shit don't give names to strangers…_ " Lee"

"Zhu Li? That is an interesting name…" Song giggled

 _"_ _Justlee" Zuko_ slurred miserable

"Lee huh, Well good to meet you, I'm Song, the local doctor, well I was still training but my master-" the pretty girl cut herself short when she noticed Lee was no listening.

Lee was looking as best as he could with hurting himself. _Wheres Uncle?_

Song frowned, "Are you looking for someone?"

"My uncle"

Her frown deepened, "Your uncle is not here, but you are and you need to tell me what happened to you"

 _Shit, what do I say,_ "I uh… shpy, yesh, they caught me shpyiing and blew me up" _Well I was never good at lying…_

"That's crazy! Which general do you work for? I met general Fong once… You should be more careful next time, I found you practically dead with your back against a tree, and soaking wet, if you didn't bleed out, you would have died from hypother-"

"Ish there food" Lee murmured interrupting Songs rambling

"Yes of course," Song sighed and brought Zuko a piece of stale bread.

"Thansh" Lee murmured, but passed out before he could eat

000

A week had passed and Lee was no longer bed ridden He had ventured out to where she found him, only to find any trace of his boat gone. Song noticed he was itching to leave, but he was not fully healed _\- Burn wounds, bruises, and scrapes still cover his body, he still looked like tenderized steak– and he had not paid for her services_

"Lee you should not be up this early" Song Chided

"I need to be leaving" Lee grumbled

"Lee you are hardly in any state to be traveling and you have not paid me yet"

"Oh" Lee uttered shocked, forgetting he was now but a peasant in the earth kingdom "I have no money"

"That's ok, you can help out around my clinic for a while" Song offered, she knew he would have no money

"No I have to go"

"You can't you- Where are you going"

"The north pole" Lee answered, he needed to know if his uncle was ok…

"The North Pole!" Song nearly shouted, "Why?"

"Unc- I discovered that the fire nation was going to invade the North Pole"

Song paused, then frowned. "I will go with you" Song decided out loud

"You can't, didn't you hear me! The Fire Nation is Invading!" Lee insisted with a false importance

"I will, because you will die from an infection otherwise, and I need a master to finish my healers training, and the masters up there are legendary…"

"What of your clinic?"

"Look around Lee, you're only the second person I've had in two weeks. No one wants to be healed by a half trained healer."

"Argh fine, but we leave today" Lee grumbled knowing Song would go with him no matter how stupid it was.

"Tomorrow." Song cut.

000

"So tell me about yourself"

 _Song just won't let me be will she_

He looked up and saw Song's real question in her eyes

 _Of course_

"I… can't" came the pained response, _Just ignore it_

Lee promptly began eating to delay questions

"It's ok if you don't want to tell me about it…" Song sing-songed softly, "Tell me about your uncle then"

Lee just chewed his food for a moment "My uncle, he, he was like a father to me, He was also a genius you know"

"Did he have a name?"

"Uh... Mushi"

Song left it at that and began to eat her supper too. After several minutes of eating the over cooked rice in without a word, Song couldn't take it any longer.

"So Lee, where are you from?"

 _Spirits, she just has to keep on asking me_ Lee thought

"My parents are from the colonies, they left me to my uncle when I was little." Lee grated out. He had thought of a story, but he still hated lying.

"Oh… , do you-"

Lee cut her off "Look, please just don't"

Song frowned, then continued to eat her supper.

"So did you find out when the fire nation is going to attack?"

 _shut up Please just stop talking_

"They will have to wait until the polar winter is over because fire bending is severely weakened in total darkness" _at least thats not a lie._

"That's in…" Song paused, "1 and a half months!

"39 days"

"Do you think we can make it?"

"We have to" came Lee's clipped response, "I'm going to sleep"

"Ok" Song replied softly

Each was left in their own thoughts. _Was lee trustworthy? Who is he? Where did he get that giant scare on his face?_ Song wondered as she drifted to sleep.

Across from her lay the seemly peaceful form of lee. But inside an ocean of worries, fears and guilt tumble through his mind _, bringing Song was a mistake. What if she suspects me, or finds out that I don't intend on saving the northern Water Tribe. Is Uncle ok? Does he care that I'm gone. What if he went to Caldera City Instead? How can I get rid of Song before she suspects me?_

Sleep did not come to Lee that night…

000

"General Iroh, I am-" "retired" Iroh cut in, "I am pleased that you changed your mind and have decided advise me as I decimate the barbarians that cower in the north pole, I have discovered a most unusual weakness in their stronghold"

"I would be glad to discuss these things over tea" The retired general replied.

Lee had thought he was going to die if Song kept up her questions. That was the first after they had left Song's village. That was also 3 days ago. On the second day, they bought a pair of ostrich horses and Lee had _obtained_ duel dao. Song had finally stopped asking Lee personal questions.

"Are you going to name your ostrich-horse?" Song decided to ask over a dinner of rice yet again.

"He already has a name" Lee replied curtly

"Well are you going to tell me?" Song finally huffed, annoyed.

"His name is Kio" Lee replied, glancing at the now sleeping beast.

"Well mines is called Shine" Song replied.

Lee sighed "You've mentioned that probably 6 times already"

The pair made eye contact for a brief moment, the fire dimly illuminating their faces.

"What about your dao?"

"What about them?"

"Do they have names?" Song asked

"What is it with you and names?" Lee grumbled

"Well can I name them?"

"No"

"But why not?"

Lee sighed exasperated, "Names bind spirits and spirits mean trouble."

"You don't seriously believe that stuff do you?"

"Look, real or not, I have enough problems as it is"

"Alright" Song smirked mischievously "You know, I need to do a medical check of your wounds, probably tonigh _t in my tent_ " She winked for effect.

 _My back has been hurting an awful lot from all the riding, the bruises from those damn pirates still might not be fully healed, it's probably a good idea._ Lee thought completing oblivious, and reluctantly agreed not wanting to show weakness. He had made Song use the small tent, because he could never face himself if he let her sleep outside while he got the tent.

When Lee went into the tent, Song smiled at him, but then became serious, "I do actually have to check the wounds."

Lee scowled. _What else would she be doing?_ Then he took off his shirt. Song blushed, Lee didn't notice and continued scowling. His burn scar was clearer because other wounds had clear up and he no longer looked like a freshly tenderized raw steak. "I think there is a bruise on my back"

"Where exactly does it hurt?" Song asked gently

"Everywhere"

"Hmmmm, there's not much to do for that right now" Song winked, "Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"I suppose not" came the reply and an oblivious Lee left the small tent leaving a confused and upset Song behind.

 _What is with her, does she have something in her eye?_ Lee wondered as he settled into his sleeping bag beside Song's cozy tent.

000

"Why do we have to get up so early?" Song grumbled. She was not a morning person. On top of that, she had hardly gotten a wink of sleep because she was up trying to figure out Lee. _He just wasn't in the mood._ She had finally decided.

"34 days, remember? We are heading to the next village we come across, we need more supplies"

"And how are we going to afford said supplies? The same way you afforded those dao?" Song said accusingly, but Lee was unfazed. I will figure something out." Came the curt reply

"Fine but no stealing" Song grumbled. She did not like being up early and she was questioning her decision to go with Lee.

As Song packed her tent, Lee woke the ostrich horses. After breaking camp, the pair rode 2 hours northwest to get to the nearest village.

000

"Oh no…" Song sighed melodramatically as she sighted the small village.

"What?" Lee growled.

"It's the fire nation, they've taken over this town."

"As long as we don't cause trouble and leave quickly we should be fine." Lee stated simply, but a whirlwind of thoughts raged in his mind. _What if someone recognizes me as fire nation, do they have news of uncle? Could I send him a cipher somehow? What is going on in the North Pole? Could someone recognize me as Zuko? No_ Lee consoled himself, _my phoenix tail was burnt off and I have a little hair. Plus I'm too bruised for my scar to stand out still._

"Hey, you!" a fire nation soldier called out as they approached the perimeter of the village, "You and your girlfriend need to dismount your ostrich horses, lay your weapons down, and present to me your papers before you enter, of course you get all your stuff back after you have been checked." The poor soldier was steely but Lee could hear nervousness in his voice. _I wonder who's attacked him before, or who had his position before…_ Le thought darkly as he dismounted his ostrich horse and set his dao down, and called out smoothly "Sir, we do not have papers. Our farm was burnt down and we desperately need supplies for our families."

"Well that happens often enough," the soldier laughed nervously, which earned a glare from Song. He continued, "I will have to escort you to the Corporal who's in charge. He can approve new papers for you two."

"Thank you," Song said with more venom than Lee had ever heard from her.

Lee and song were then escorted to a large red tent with Fire Nation insignia. When they entered the soldier who had escorted them shouted "Corporal Ho Min," and saluted. Lee and Song performed small bows.

"It is good to see that some of these peasants do know respect," the corporal spat, "Why have you brought them to me?" the Corporal addressed his soldier.

"They need p-papers" The soldier stammered.

"Yes of course" the higher up said, then grumbled something about a bureaucratic hell. "Names and ages please"

"I'm So-"Song started but was interrupted by Lee, "She is Sam Li, and I am Han Jee, and we are both 18"

"Is this true Miss?" Song nodded nervously. Ho Min continued, "How then do you want Lee spelled?"

"'L" 'I'" Song replied, now less nervous.

"And is Ji spelled 'J'-'I'?" Ho Min asked.

"'J'-'e'-'e'" Lee replied.

"Very well then, Now in order to get these papers my stamp of approval you must first swear not to harm, harass disturb or otherwise carry out any malicious intentions towards the Fire nation, fire nation soldiers, property and the general populous, while in Xiǎo Village"

Each swore, Song doing so more reluctantly of the two.

"Good, and finally there is a charge of five yuans or services and goods of equal value." Corporal Ho Min looked greedily at Song.

Lee and Song glanced at each other and Song quickly spoke up. "Sir we have no money, but I have a bracelet of more than enough value." Song then produced a silver bracelet from seemingly nowhere.

The Corporal inspected it and promptly stated, "This will do," and stamped two square pieces of paper with the fire nation emblem. He handed them the papers then shoed them out of his tent.

"That guy was a pervert" Song muttered as soon as they were out of earshot.

"At least they didn't give me trouble for my gold eyes" Lee breathed with relief as he looked for the stables.

"Come on, we can drop off the ostrich horses over here," Song said almost cheerfully. "Then we eat lunch and get supplies. Somehow."

There were a few moments when just the loud padding of the ostrich-horse's talon-paws could be heard then Song broke the silence. "So why did you give us new Identities?" she questioned

"I'm a spy, remember" Lee replied sticking to his story. _Stay consistent and she won't suspect me,_ he thought with a twinge of guilt. "If they have records on my actual name I could be imprisoned, and if we were under 18, they could not issue papers to us."

"Oh" was all that Song had to say to that.

"Song, while you check our animals into the stables, I need to go check the town bulletin." Lee then turned to his ostrich horse and said in a motherly tone (which Song thought was absolutely hilarious), "Kio, you be good, ok?" An unenthusiastic whiney was all the answer he got.

When Song approached the stables, a thin dirty man came up to her and asked "Is Scarface over there your boyfriend?"

Another voice called out, "Leave her alone, Chun!" and the dirty man scampered off

Meanwhile, Lee approached the fire nation bulletin board. "All Lands engaging in trade with Kyoshi Island are to pay an 8% trade Tax. National Hero Admiral Zhao poisoned by Water Tribe Spy, National day of mourning will be on the next half moon." He whispered to himself, "Prince Zuko declared dead, it here is a 1200 yuan reward for his head courtesy of princess Azula" Lee finished mortified.

000

"Sir, your tea is ready." A young soldier saluted General Iroh.

"Very well. I will take it and I need you to stand guard outside my door and make sure nobody disturbs me." The General command smoothly.

"Sir yes Sir"

Iroh went into his quarters and shut the door. The quarters were not overly large but they had a myriad of objects decorating the walls. He pinched three candles alight. Then he lit some incense and said a silent prayer. _Spirits, wherever my nephew is, you owe it to me watch over him, especially you Tui and La. And Zuko, if you are getting this, I'm sorry it ended how it did._ Iroh finished glumly. He knew it was unwise to ask the Spirits to pay a debt, but he did not care about much since his nephew's death. One of Iroh's greatest fears was that the spirits would hold him, his nephew, and his other relatives responsible for the sins of his forefathers.

There was only silence for several moments, then the familiar metallic groan of the flagship resounded through his cabin and the ship pitched portside as a wave crashed into it.

 _Perhaps the Spirits did listen,_ the old man thought ruefully, and sat down at his desk. He Pulled out a quill and began to write in a refined cursive script:

Master Pakku,

Since the Death of my nephew Prince Zuko, I have found I have very little to live for. Even so, I am Loyal to the White Lotus. When I discovered a plan to kill the Moon Spirit, I took _necessary action_ to insure it would not happen. I am the only officer aware of the spirit's location. The Fire Nation will not call off the invasion of your tribe. The Northern Water Tribe will be destroyed if nothing is done. Therefor the wisest course of action is to evacuate the city and take refuge in the tundra. I have heard that you have the avatar with you. Get him out of the North Pole. Even if you could defeat the fire nation when they initially attack, a single warship could annihilate your entire nation when Sozin's Comet comes at the end of summer. Therefor you must let the fire nation occupy your city until winter comes again.

I wish you the best of luck old friend,

Iroh


	2. Chapter 2: Theives and Small Children

Chapter 2: Thieves and Many Small Children

It was midday. The hot sun was beating down on their backs as they traveled through the desert plains. Dried sweat plastered their bodies, making Song very uncomfortable. When Shine had twisted her ankle yesterday, Song had to ride Kio with Lee and that did nothing to help the stifling heat. At first Lee was very uncomfortable about riding the same ostrich horse as her. _He's still uncomfortable being in contact with me,_ Song mused, _I wonder if he was abused as a child_. Song knew the effects of abuse, and Lee displayed just about every one of them. _There's still so much I don't know about him._ Song did know that he was an Earth Kingdom spy, grew up in a wealthy family in the Colonies, and hated talking about himself, and bending. He also knew very little of Earth Kingdom politics. _How can it not even be summer and still be this hot?_ Song griped to herself. _Well I suppose it's almost summer; we have 31 days to contact the Northern Water Tribe._ Song had given up on trying to reach the Northern Water Tribe in the short time they had, and they had resolved to contact them instead.

Suddenly a shriek pierced through the air. Song swiveled her head in the direction of the scream. There was a young man, not much older than herself, kneeling next to a pregnant woman, probably his wife. The woman was leaning against a tree, and the man was looking extremely worried, yet he did not call out for help. "Lee, we should stop and see if these people are ok." Song stated. "We don't have time for this. Look, that lady is fine" came the reply. Song looked at the couple again and was surprised to see that the lady was smiling weakly at her husband. Never the less Song could not shake the bad feeling about the couple. "Lee, please, can we stop for just a few minutes." Song pleaded. Lee grunted but guided the ostrich horse to the tree.

"Hello" Song called to the couple.

They both looked up surprised to see another person there.

"Hello" the man said, stood up and bowed to her sloppily.

Song was shocked to see the man was so skinny. The bones in his legs and arms were clearly visible, and she was she was sure that his ribcage would be visible from his back. _He must be making his wife eat all of his food._ Song thought as she returned his bow. Then she began, "I heard your wife cry out and I thought since I'm a healer that I could help."

The man simply beamed at her and said, "That was the baby kicking." Song could see the pride shining from the skinny man's eyes but she was now more concerned about the man's state than his wife's.

"Sir, I can see that you will be a fine father, but you need to eat more, otherwise your child will have no father," Song said and went over to Lee. She whispered something in his ear. Lee growled, "No, we cannot." Song pouted, "But these people need her more than us." Lee growled again and said, "Song, I understand your concern, but we will never make it to the North Pole if we give them Shine." Song, now angry shouted, "Lee, look at them, they will starve soon, and we both know that you won't be able to sell Shine for a fair price to save your life!" It was true that Lee was no good at haggling for goods, and Song could not because she was a woman. Lee's face hardened, then he said "fine."

Song turned to the man and said, "We will be giving you our lame ostrich horse, you should be able to sell her to buy food."

The man bowed deeply at Song, and then Lee. "We thank you very much. May the spirits bless you."

Lee snorted at that, and replied, "The Spirits have never been kind to me, but I wish that they bless you regardless, also, take good care of Shine for me." He then turned to Song and stated bleakly, "Let's go, we need to get to the next village before nightfall." Song just nodded and mounted Kio with him. _And then what, we have no more money._

 _What in this Spirit damned world was Song thinking!_ Lee though angrily. They had been traveling for five hours nonstop and he was not happy. _No money, no food, no water._ Lately, he had been feeling more and more lost, and constantly lying to Song was weighing down on his conscience. _She trusts me, yet she hardly knows anything about me. How?_ The question swam through his mind as a small village came into sight over the horizon. "We will have to spend the night here. Tomorrow we will see if we can find day jobs." Lee told Song.

"Ok" was all the response he got. Both travelers were grumpy from not having anything to eat, and arguing earlier did not help their moods. Luckily the town was not occupied. When they arrived in the town it was sunset. It was in fact the most brilliant sunset either had ever seen. There was nothing obstructing the desert horizon for miles, and mixture of intense fiery reds and bittersweet oranges painted the landscape, and a deep midnight blue was creeping over the sky from the east.

Song dismounted Kio and sighed, "It's beautiful…"

"It is" Lee replied ruefully. All of the colors reminded him of his homeland, which he had not visited in 3 years. It reminded him of its own brilliant sunsets that he would watch over the ocean. When Lee did not get off Kio, Song asked softly, "Lee, Is something wrong?"

Lee just sighed sadly and whispered, "We used to have sunsets like this at home. I would watch them with my mother. I just..." Lee dismounted and was immediately embraced in a hug by Song, and his heart constricted as he thought about his mother.

Lee took the harness off Kio and sat Kio down next to a building. Then he turned to Song and said, depressed, "We have no food or money, so we will have to sleep out here until tomorrow." Then he plopped himself next to Kio and leaned into the tired animal and whispered "Good night Kio." The moment he closed his eyes, he fell asleep.

Song just stared at him in amazement at how quickly he could fall asleep after the sun set. Then with a hint of jealousy she thought, O _h Lee, you have grown really attached to Kio, more so than me. Well I guess an ostrich horse never abused you or betrayed you._ Then she rolled out her mat next to the sleeping pair (they had to sell their small tent two days ago to buy feed for Kio and Shine), and sat down and started to pray to her (dead) father. _Father, please watch over me and guide me. I am feeling more lost, and I can tell Lee is becoming depressed._ Song then then closed her eyes and tried to sleep.

000

 _He was feeding the turtle ducks with his mother. "Hey mom, want to see how Azula feeds turtled ducks?" The dream shifted. He was now overlooking the ocean with a brilliant sunset, his mother was with him too. He looked at her and was startled to see Song's face contort in rage. "Lee, why have you been lying to me!" She screamed. The dream shifted again. Now it was him and his mother again. A royal guard came and delivered a note to Ursa. Zuko looked at the guard, and this time he knew who he would see. It was Azula's face, smiling at him cruelly. Regardless, Ursa took the note and read, "Iroh has lost his son. Your cousin Lu Ten has died in battle." The dream shifted again. He was in the South Pole. The Avatar and his friends were cornering him and Iroh when the Avatar morphed into Azula, and shot her cruel blue fire at Uncle. "No!" Zuko cried and kneeled at Iroh. He desperately checked Iroh's pulse but there was nothing. Zuko started crying. The Avatar's friends were gone and Azula walked up to him smugly. "Dad is going to kill you," she sing-songed, "Really, he is."_

Zuko woke up with a start. It was the middle of the night, his scar burning on his face. Uncle was alive, he hoped. He looked over at Song, who was resting peacefully. He was afraid to go back to sleep because he knew the nightmares would return, so he occupied himself with other thoughts. _It's going to be a full moon in two days._ Exhaustion finally got the better of him and he drifted back into a restless sleep.

000

Lee woke up at dawn per usual, but he was sore from riding days on end, and exhausted from the night before. He looked at Kio, who was still sleeping, and decided to wake up Song. He crawled over to her where she was sleeping a few feet away, and gently shook her awake.

"Lee, why do we have to get up so early?" Song mumbled sleepily.

"You need to get up and try and find work. Meet me back here at noon."

"Sure thing Lee" Song murmured as Lee got up and led Kio to a public stable.

Lee then spent the next few hours hauling water. Soldiers spat at him for doing women's work, and being a filthy beggar but he did his best to ignore it. At noon he met up with Song but she had not managed to find any work. So he took the measly two copper pieces he had earned and went to a small kiosk. He noticed the same Earth Kingdom soldiers from earlier playing dice nearby. They also noticed him.

"Can I get a bag of feed and two hot meals?" Lee huffed at the man at the kiosk.

"Sorry, not enough money, but I can get you two bags of feed." The man responded kindly,

At that same moment, a giggling sounded from around the corner of the kiosk and an egg flew at the soldiers behind him.

"Hey, did you throw that egg!" the egged soldier hollered at him.

"No" Lee responded dryly.

"Did you see where that egg came from?"

"No"

"Is no your favorite word?" A different soldier mocked.

Another soldier interrupted, "Egg had to come from somewhere."

"Maybe a chicken flew over." Lee said, completely serious. At that, all three soldiers burst out into laughter.

Then the leader of the group took his two bags of feed and sarcastically thanked him for his contribution to the war.

"Thanks for not ratting me out back there. Here come on, I can feed your ostrich horse for you." A Scrawny boy beamed at him. "I'm Li by the way" the boy said happily as he took Kio's reigns.

"I need to go get someone before we go" Lee responded.

The boy Li just happily followed him while he found Song. Song was just milling around in the center of the small town because no one could afford a healer. "Hey Song," Lee called out, she turned around surprised to see him with a boy.

"Does that kid need healing?" she asked worried.

"No, he offered to feed Kio for us" Lee replied, then turned to Li, and nodded. The kid happily took Kio's reigns and led them to his house

000

They had decided to spend the night. Song and Lee had mounted Kio and were prepared to leave Li's home the next day when the same three soldiers from the town came riding towards the farm house. "What are you doing here?" Came Lee snarled at them.

The leader just smiled maliciously and stated, "I came to let the old man know that Hansen's battalion was captured." He paused to enjoy the horrified look on everyone's faces. "I heard that the Fire Nation dresses up their prisoners and puts them on the front line."

 _-"Your cousin Lu Ten is Dead"-_ the memory hit Lee like a train.

"Get out of Here" Lee screamed at the soldiers.

"Whatever, have fun groveling you pigs." The soldier growled.

Lee turned to see everyone's shocked faces, except for Li's father's face, which was set with angry determination. Li's father said coldly, "I am going to the front to find Hansen." And turned away.

Li looked to Lee, tears streaming from his face, "If he goes, will you stay?"

Lee's chest constricted when he saw the desperation and sorrow in the kid's eyes. "take this" Lee told Li as he pulled out his pearl dagger. "Read the inscription."

"Made in Earth Kingdom" Li slowly read.

"No the other inscription"

"Never give up without a fight" When Li looked up, Lee and Song were already riding from the farm. Tears began streaming down Li's face once more.

000

Song was silent through the whole ordeal, but she noticed that Lee's breathing was ragged, and occasionally a tear would fall from his face.

"Lee are you all right?" She asked concerned.

"No" Lee no longer could lie.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Song tried softly.

"No" Lee whispered. The memories of the events following Lu Ten's death were too painful.

000

"We will have to stay in this town again tonight." Lee grumbled. They both just wandered around aimlessly for an hour or so. Song mostly talked to women at the well. Lee took Kio to a nearby patch of grass. The sun began to set when a cry sounded out in the distance.

"They've got Li" Li's mother cried out. "The soldiers came back to collect some grain and Lee pulled a knife on them." The desperate women gasped, "I don't even know where he got a knife, but they said if he's old enough to use a knife, he's old enough to fight in the war. Please, help…" The woman was having a breakdown at this point, tears covered her face, her eyes were puffy and red, and she was gasping for breath.

Meanwhile Song had arrived at the scene and Lee's face had steeled. "I'll get your son back." He grit out determined.

He found Li tied up in the center of town, with the soldiers guarding him.

"See, I told you he would come back for me" Li shouted at the soldiers when he saw Lee.

"Stay away kid!" the soldier barked at Lee.

"You are soldiers, you are cowards" Lee stated coldly.

"Well are you going to just take that?" One of the soldiers yelled to the others, and the others charged Lee.

Lee unsheathed his shung dao and easily defeated the attacking soldiers while a crowd gathered and cheered him on. When the last of the attackers scrambled away from him, a slow sarcastic clap rang out from Li's location. It was the leader of the Earth kingdom soldiers.

"Excellent Show. It's a shame it will have to end now" the burly man said and grinned deviously. The man quickly set into a horse stance and brought a hammer up, encasing Lee in stone to his waste.

000

Song watch the scene unfold as Lee fought the thug-soldiers. _Wow, he's really good. Where did he learn to fight like that,_ she mused happily as Lee easily defeated them. _Holy Shit._ Lee was now encased in stone up to his chest. _This is not good. What do I do! What do I do!_ Song was now panicking as Lee struggled fruitlessly to get out.

The soldier was walking up to Lee smugly, with his hammer swinging about his side. "Boy you will regret messing with soldiers now."

Song was so helpless feeling watching Lee about to be tortured, and maybe even killed. Fear racked her body and she began shaking. "Wait!" Song cried out desperate.

The Soldier looked up and addressed Song smugly. "Well well well. It looks like we have a pretty girl trying to save her boyfriend. There's nothing you can do for him girl, leave now and forget him."

"No! Wait! I'll… I'll do whatever you want me to." Song desperately cried on the verge of a breakdown herself.

"Song No-" Lee gritted but was cut off, "Shut it, pig. So Song is your name. Since its whatever I want, I think I'll take up your offer."

"Release them first" Song managed, her face set.

The soldier just replied, "I'll let your boyfriend go, and when we're done, I'll let the kid go." Then he turned to Lee and snarled, "If you try anything, the kid dies."

"Song, don't" Lee tried weakly.

"I accept those conditions" Song said coldly to the soldier.

The soldier nodded, a smug grin plastering his face. He turned to Lee and smashed the stone casing, and it fell apart, knocking Lee to the ground. Song ran to him desperately to see if he was ok. Meanwhile the Soldier went over to Li and picked him up in a headlock with his hammer hovering over the poor kid's head. The cruel man then called out to Song, "I will be waiting in my house behind the public stables"

000

Hot rage was burning through Lee's entire body when Song accepted the Soldier's terms. _I am going to send that sad perverted coward straight to eternal damnation!_ When he crashed into the ground he knew what he had to do. When Song got near enough, he jumped up and put her in a head lock and tied a blindfold over her.

"Lee what in the name of Prithvi are you doing" Song screamed.

"Sorry Song, I'll explain later." Lee apologized furious at the situation. He got up and ran after the man dragging Li to his home.

 _-No what happens, remember who you are.-_

 _"I am Prince Zuko, Son of Fire Lord Ozai and Ursa, Heir to the Dragon Throne." Zuko whispered to himself ready to kill someone._

He entered the small house and immediately was encased in stone again. The soldier had been expecting him. That did not matter. Now he was alone with the man. Fire poured from Zuko's hands and feet, and the stone casing crumbled away. The soldier shouted and jumped back in surprise, and began an earth bending kata. But Zuko was quicker. He jumped forward and impaled the man through the chest with one of his dao. The soldier looked at him in fear and awe as his heart stopped. "I am Prince Zuko, never mess with me." Zuko whispered to the dying man with more venom than should be possible. Then Zuko heard a whimper and was surprised to see that Li had seen the whole thing.

"Y-you," Li stuttered, " _I hate you._ " And the boy ran. Zuko just stood there processing everything he had just done, and looking at the carnage in the small house. Then he remembered Song, and started running back to the plaza where he left her.

He was relieved to find her where he left her, blindfolded and all. That is he was relieved until he heard Song's screams in anger and fear. "Song calm down it's ok." Lee called out to her and immediately went to undo the blindfold.

Song immediately calmed hearing Lee was ok. "Is Li ok?" she asked still angry and afraid.

"Yes but we have to get out of here now."

"Lee, what did you do?"

"That doesn't matter right now we need to leave."

Song now had an idea of what Lee had done and nodded grimly. Lee was already on Kio, and Song went to mount. It was another beautiful sunset but neither cared at the moment.

"Where are we going?" Song asked, still shaken from the events.

"On" Lee replied unsteadily. Normally he would be tired around that time of day, but he was filled with too much adrenaline.

000

The Full moon was setting when an orange dot came into view. Song and Lee had ridden through the night and were exhausted. As they rode closer, the orange dot grew larger and covered nearly half of the horizon. "Oh no" Song whispered horrified when she realized that the orange glow was a small city that had been reduced to embers. "How is that possible? Did the Fire Nation attack?"

Lee watched the embers glow for a minute, his steely gaze not betraying his horror at his own nation. His mind raced trying to come up with reasons as to how the place could have burned down without the Fire Nation. The wind picked up and hot wind blew towards them from the charred city, embers glowing brighter, and smoke filling their eyes.

000

 _Oh Agni please no! help!_ He froze, hands and lips going numb, heart fluttering, his whole body was racked with shivers. His mind shut down. _Please. I can't_. It was the wind. It carried the distinct scent of burning flesh. That awful day. Burnt flesh. Pain, so much pain. Failure, _I deserved it._ Pain. _"You did not deserve that!" Iroh's_ angry voice resounded. _"Dad is going to kill you." "You will learn respect, and suffering will be your teacher" "You have no honor, dad took that away when he burned your face" Azula always lies. Azula always lies._ His left eye was filled with searing pain, and the smell of burnt flesh filled his nostrils. _He never loved you anyway. -A cruel orange flash. He couldn't see. Left eye burning.-_

000

Song's eyes were watering from the smoky wind when she felt Lee go stiff. He began to tremble, and it spread over his whole body. "Lee?" she tried softly, - Lee began to whimper and shake even more. "Lee!" she yelled this time. _What is happening to him? Is he having a seizure? He's going to fall off Kio. Oh Spirits help!_ "LEE!" she practically screamed into his ear, fear now coursing through her entirety. Song began to tremble at Lee's unresponsiveness. Then she heard him sniff and begin to cry. "Lee?" she asked softly, still trembling from fear. She just let him cry.

 _"_ Survivors _," He croaked shakily after a minute, "We need to check for survivors."_

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Song softy asked, worried about him seizing up and burning to death.

"We have to." He murmured determined, and slid of Kio. Song got off too. She took his reins and tied him down to a nearby stump. "Don't worry, we'll come back for you." Lee murmured weakly to Kio.

The two of them walked to the edge of the burned village. An orange glow illumined their faces. The heat was searing, and Lee's scar was burning. He took a deep breath, and the heat subsided. It felt good to firebend, even if it was just heat. There was so much energy around him, and he extended his chi and let it course through his body and the surroundings, giving him the strength to go on. "Let's go." Song nodded and they stepped into the charred road. The heat was intense but bearable. They began searching for signs of survivors in the glowing remains of the village. Song gasped when she saw horribly burnt dead bodies, bodies of children, families huddling together, all dead. Zuko checked them for a pulse regardless. The sun was rising and they had checked several hundreds of burnt down homes for survivors. It was always the same. People huddled to together, terrified looks covering there charred faces; dead. It did not matter, Song and Lee continued checking every corpse for a pulse, a breath, a cry of pain, anything! Song began puking. Lee told her to go check on Kio and she did not refuse. He kept searching the burnt remains. He got to the last corner of the blackened village. Still nothing. It was two hours after sunrise. Song had passed out from fear, or exhaustion, Lee did not know. He was about to pass out. But he refused to believe that the Fire Nation had managed to slaughter everyone. He kept searching. He checked a pulse on a young man his age. The corpse was cold. Lee puked what little he had in his stomach. Lee came to the last house. A dead child clutched a blackened leather bag, and two charred bodies were layered on top. Lee checked the pulses of the bodies on top. Nothing. Maybe it was his desperation, but the body of the child was not cold, unlike his parents corpses. _Please! Oh Agni, please let this child be alive._ He was. Lee desperately dragged the other two corpses away, and picked up the kid. He was maybe 5 years old, and he was unconscious.

"Song! Song! Song wake up!" came the hoarse cry to no avail. Song was dead to the world. The events of the past days had taken their toll. Lee was crying as he brought the small unconscious child over to where Song was.

"Live Dammit!" Lee began to cry as he leaned the child against Kio, who cooed softly.

Lee sat there and cried more than he had in three years. _Uncle, I am so lost. Please help._

 _000_

It was maybe noon. Song really didn't know. She woke up to Lee gazing emptily in her direction. His good eye was puffy and tear stained. His whole body was blackened by soot. Gigantic dark rings were under his good eye, his scared eye was nearly closed.

"Lee… what happened?" she whispered weakly.

Lee recounted what had happened from the moment they saw the tiny orange glow, shaking and sobbing by the end of his story. No longer able to talk, he pointed at the unconscious child. He puked out whatever was left in his stomach.

Song stood up and walked over to him and said in the firmest voice she could muster, "Lee, sleep"

With that he passed out.

000

Song woke Lee up at sundown. The child was still unconscious. "Lee, we have to go. We haven't any food, and we haven't eaten since yesterday night. It could be a whole day until the next village.

It was true that Lee's stomach hurt. He was just too miserable to care. Kio couldn't take all three of them, so they took turns riding with the child and walking. They walked through the night. It was the night after a full moon, so they could clearly see where they were going. At midnight, they came to a stream and bathed. Song scrubbed the soot off the child. He had pale skin like Lee. On contact with cold water he stirred which was their first good sign from him. The child had clutched a bag when Lee found him, so Lee kept the bag in case it was important.

"It wasn't the Fire Nation that destroyed the village, you know?"

"Oh" was all Lee said, trying not to let too much relief show on his face, but Song saw the relief. That just added to her suspicions which she had not voiced.

"There was a fire storm. They happen in windy dry parts of the Earth Kingdom. I heard stories, but I always thought they were exaggerated."

000

They arrived in a town, Gaoling, about two hours before sunrise. Lee vaguely remembered that Gaoling existed from geography, but he could not remember what he learned.

"I'm going to get food" he told Song. Song just nodded exhausted, not caring how he would get food when no one was awake. Lee grabbed his dao and wandered around Gaoling, not knowing where he would get food. He came to a gated estate with a flying boar on it. There seemed to be an orchard in the gardens.

 _They won't notice if some of their fruit disappears,_ He thought hazily to himself. He clambered over a wall, and crossed some gardens and started picking some low hanging pinkish orange fruits, and then he went over to a lychee nut tree. It was a little higher so he scrambled up the tree and started shaking the fruit to the ground. As he was shaking a smaller branch, it cracked and broke, causing him to fall to the ground loudly. _Shit_. Lee hardly had time to stand up before he was encased in stone again. _Shit shit shit. He_ looked up to see a dirty girl giggling at him.

 _What the hell?_ Lee thought in his haze and confusion.

 **AN:** That was rough. Please please please review! Stay tuned to find out what happens. Soon we see what happens to Gaang! Also let me know what rating this should be. This chapter is about as dark as it gets. Remember to review.


	3. Chapter Three: Inconvenient Truths

Chapter Three: Inconvenient Truths

 _What the hell?_ Lee thought in his haze and confusion. The dirty small girl stopped giggling and walked up to him.

 _"_ How did you find me?" Lee mumbled shocked that a small child had trapped him in the ground.

 _"_ Are you drunk or just an idiot?" she retorted.

 _"_ I- what. It doesn't matter. Just please release me and I'll leave forever." Lee said, now getting angry at the ridiculousness of the situation. _Ugh, when did my fate become determined by children,_ Lee groaned inwardly.

"So you are just an idiot. Or really really desperate. If I were you, I would stay quiet or else a guard might come." The girl grinned at him evilly, "Here's what's up. You are going to tell me who you are, and why you are stealing fruit, of all things, from the richest family in the Southern Earth Kingdom. I'm bored, and if your story is wild enough, I'll let you go. But it better be true, I'll know otherwise."

Lee groaned. Everything that the _little girl that trapped him_ said gave him a headache. His head was spinning. _Southern earth kingdom? Song is going to kill me. We should be heading north. Will I ever see uncle again?_

The dirty little earth bender took note of his silence. "Talk or I call guards." It was a bluff of course, if the guards found her out in her current condition, she would be given one of her Mom's day long lectures on being a "lady".

Lee, not seeing any other options because he was trapped began, "You can call me Lee, I was working on a mission until a lot of shi- err stuff - " Lee stuttered remembering his captors age, " -happened, and now I am responsible for –"

"Hold that thought." The girl interrupted a worried look on her face.

000

 _Crap there's no way it's already almost sunrise. If I'm caught, I'll have a week of Lady Lectures._ These concerns swam through her head as she sensed the guards change shifts. _Screw it, I'll go with this guy, for the day at least._ This 'Lee' seemed trustworthy enough to her. He didn't lie in her short interrogation, and she was itching for an adventure, or even just to talk to some refugees. She knew there was a war, but was kept sheltered on its happenings. And avoiding 'Lady Lectures', by running away was perfectly reasonable in her 12 year old mind. In reality, she was getting lectured, caught with Lee or not.

 _"_ I'm going with you, for today. No Questions asked. And don't try anything." She told Lee

Lee groaned.

000

 _Why does this shit always happen?_ Lee grumbled about children and girls to himself. As if on que with "Is all of Earth Kingdom as insane as my sister?" the earth swallowed him up. Instead of earth trapping him on all sides, he was in a pitch black cavern. An un-manly shriek escaped his mouth.

 _"_ Who's the little girl now?" a voice mocked from the darkness.

 _"_ Hey! I can't see!" Lee retorted.

"Well neither can I" the girl shot back. Lee thought she only meant that she couldn't see because it was dark. "You get used to it," She sighed.

"What is your name?" Lee asked suddenly.

"I am Toph Beifong" She said proudly.

"Well, Toph, can you please let me out, and I need that fruit or else my friends will starve." Lee said slowly, as if talking to a six year old. He had a splitting headache.

Toph snorted. "First, stop being a condescending ass. Second, we will follow this tunnel until we are safely away from Beifong Estate. I've also got your precious fruit."

Lee's headache was defiantly not going away. "Lead the way," he grumbled. The next half hour was torturous. The girl could sprint through the accursed tunnel. Lee was not even able to maintain a walking pace. Not to mention he stubbed his toes on every protruding rock, and hit his head on every low ceiling. _How does she do it?_ "Keep up, slow poke!" Toph would shout mockingly, and he would just end up face planting into the solid stone floors when he tried to go faster. _If only I could light a fire_ , Lee mused, _if she really is crazy as Azula she'll kill me on spot…_ Lee wasn't sure that anyone could be insane as Azula, but this Toph girl didn't seem far behind. Every minute that passed in the dark tunnel was an hour for Lee.

000

The sun was rising, and Lee still was not back. _Oh, where is Lee, I really shouldn't have let him go alone,_ Song supposed. The child was stirring. _That's a good sign I suppose, but he needs to wake up somehow, or else he will starve. I don't know if Lee could live with that._

Strange shouts sounded through the streets of Gaoling. _Oh Lee tell me that's not you shouting_ Song mused. The shouting got louder over the course of ten minutes. _Ugh that is defiantly Lee. How does he manage to go off and pick a fight before the sun is even up._ Song wondered. _I really hope he has food._ Song was starving and Lee's distant shouting was not a good sign. The shouting stopped. _He's near, I can tell._ Song was full of anticipation and hungrier than a hippo cow.

"Where is this girlfriend of yours?" a small girl's voice whined.

"She's not my girlfriend" Lee grit out as Song saw them come around a corner. It was truly a sight to behold. Lee was covered in mud from head to toe, looking like steam might pour out of his ears. Next to him was a small dirty girl with messy hair. _Lee why have you brought us another child._ Song groaned inwardly. She didn't dislike children but she was on her last nerves from the events of the past few days.

"Lee!" Song called out to a fuming Lee. He looked up dumbly. "Hey Song." He said.

"So she is real." The small girl mocked. Lee glared at her.

"Song, this is Toph; Toph, this is Song." Lee mumbled.

Song wanted to know about this Toph, but her stomach got the better of her. "Did you bring food?" She blurt out.

Toph rolled her eyes. "From the way you two talk, I would think that you hadn't eaten in days."

Toph's remark was met with silence. "Toph, the fruit." Lee grit out finally.

Toph realized Lee was serious when he said he hadn't eaten in days, and quickly stamped her foot and a box materialized from the earth. If Song or Lee was impressed with her earth bending trick of carrying the fruit underground, neither showed it. They rushed to the box and hungrily began eating. Song mainly ate the Lychee nuts while Lee ate the pinkish orange fruit he had picked.

"What is this?" Lee finally bothered to ask before biting into his third fruit.

"How should I know?" Toph retorted, annoyed

"How can you live your whole life without knowing what you're eating?" Lee asked in disbelief. Song nodded with an equally dumbfound look on her face.

Toph was clearly upset. "In case you didn't hear me earlier, I can't see. How do you expect me to identify a fruit I can't see?"

"You're blind? But how do you, you know, do anything" Song nearly cried out in shock.

Lee remembered Toph telling him that she couldn't see earlier, shrugged, and kept eating.

"Look, I may be blind, but I can get around just fine." Toph spat, clearly sensitive about her blindness.

Lee nodded in agreeance with that statement, not really caring for anything other than food at the moment. Song was about to say something but thought better.

"Hey Kids, get out of here! You're scaring off customers" a merchant called out. Toph looked like she was going to say something but Lee was quicker, "Let's go."

000

It was about noon, and Toph had bought them some real food. She honestly didn't like Song, because Song pitied her for her blindness. Lee on the other hand… _it's like he doesn't even care._ That was a comforting thought but upsetting at the same time. _All he cares about is that ostrich horse._ What Toph had not realized is that Lee was more concerned for the child on the ostrich horse. _He's weird but I honestly don't care._ Toph never had real friends, neither did Lee. That was one point that could connect the nearly seventeen year old with the twelve year old. They chatted for a while, well Toph would talk about herself while Lee would occasionally chuckle about some the silly customs of the High class. Song just stared at the strange girl disapprovingly. Honestly, Song was a little jealous (even though she would never admit it), Lee is always so serious with her. As for Lee, He did not particularly like Toph at first, but she did understand many aspects of his childhood, even if she didn't know she understood them.

"So Lee, you told me I could call you lee, but you didn't say your name was Lee." Toph asked out of the blue. He was caught off guard, and Toph felt his heart speed up.

It was Song's turn to be amused at Lee's nervousness. "His real name is Zhu-Li" Song giggled. Lee was now red in the face, "What! That's not my name. I am clearly not a girl! Where did you even hear that?" Lee did not want his cover blown, but he would not stand to be mocked. Song just giggled at his indignance. "While you were under my care you said a lot of things, mostly about your uncle and pirates, but you did manage to tell me your name was Zhu Li." At that, Toph couldn't take it anymore. She burst out laughing and Lee just groaned. He had not realized just how much he let slip.

Song turned to Toph, and smirked deviously, "So Toph, you say you can detect lies?"

"Sure can" Toph said, proud of her ability.

Song looked Lee in the eye and asked rather obtusely, "So Lee, where are you from." Lee groaned. He was not expecting that. Song knew she might not get another chance, so she pressed on. "You are from the Fire Nation aren't you?" Song said accusingly. Lee groaned again. "Song, I can explain." Song was clearly tired of Lee's bullshit responses. "Yes or no." She demanded. "Song can we not talk about this in the city?" Lee murmured. "Yes or No." Song said again.

"Ugh, Yes, I'm Fire Nation." Lee confessed angrily, "Are you happy now?"

Song didn't think Lee would get upset about it as he did. She honestly didn't care that he was Fire Nation, she was just upset that he lied to her. Her face softened. "Lee, I don't care that you are Fire Nation, I just wish you would have told me the truth." If anything that made Lee feel worse. His guilt choking him as if he were drowning but couldn't figure out which way to swim for air. He didn't know what to do.

Toph, who had been silently listening finally spoke up, "Lee, are you a firebender?" Lee's face contorted into a look of guilt. "You're a firebender?" Song shouted. Toph tried to look at Song, "Hey, we don't want all of Gaoling to know!" Lee hung his head then asked, "What gave it away?" Toph replied, "You were clearly nobility, and the sons of Nobility are almost always benders." She said simply. Song was still in shock, "But – you, how did?" She mumbled confused.

Toph got up. "Well it's been nice meeting you, Lee, you too Song. I've got to go; my parents are probably going to send bounty hunters after me if I don't return soon" She joked, "Lee good luck with you girlfriend."

"She's not my girlfriend." Lee grit out.

"Well not anymore" Toph laughed as she walked off.

"Toph, wait, you left your bag." Lee called out.

"Keep it." Toph shouted back, Leaving Lee with a very confused and upset Song.

The next hours were a blur. Song shouted at Lee and then stormed off. The small child on Kio cried out in his sleep, and Lee took them to a nearby field. Lee took the child off Kio, He was so skinny. _He's going to die. Oh Spirits he's going to die._ Lee had reached his breaking point. He sat down with the small unconscious child, his mind breaking down. _Song I'm sorry._ Lee collapsed with the child, and began crying. Kio whimpered and began eating grass from the field. Lee fell asleep quickly, out of tears and too exhausted to cry.

000

"Aang, we need to talk." It had been a very long day for Sokka. While he loved the North Pole, it made him nauseatingly homesick. He also found out that the Fire Nation was going to invade the North. He was allowed to sit in on the Council of Elders who decided what actions need to be taken. The city was to be fortified in every manner possible, then it would be evacuated. Right now, the city was on the edge of the Arctic Circle, and there would be an exodus to the Deep North. That's why Sokka could sit in; the Southern Water Tribe already lived in Deep South Pole, so he could give proper advice on things like midnight sun madness. Of course there had been a lot of fighting about this. Most people did not want to leave their homes. Chief Arnook and his family would have to stay in the city because they were Spirit-Bound to the oasis of Tui and La. If none of the Royal Family was not there, legend says that the Spirits will tear their tribe apart.

There was also the issue of Aang, Katara and himself. Their options were to head into the Deep North; Stay and defend the Northern Capitol; or to head to the Earth Kingdom. After considering his options, Sokka decided that they needed to leave. _Aang will hate leaving, but Katara will be crushed. She is really happy here._ Sokka was already feeling guilty about it and he had not even told them. He also had to leave Yue, which he did not look forward to, but he could deal with it. He had to.

"What's up Sokka?" Aang asked cheerfully. _He really hasn't caught on to the silence of the city today._ "Aang we're leaving the North Pole tomorrow."

"What! I haven't finished water bending training yet! Not to mention there's the celebration of Kuruk in three days, and I already agreed to be part of it. I'm going to get to-"

"Plans change" Sokka cut in dryly.

"Wait, Sokka, can you at least tell me why we are leaving so suddenly?" Aang called to Sokka as he was walking away.

"I'll tell you later. Please, just get your things ready to leave early tomorrow." Sokka grit out. In truth he was really stressed out and frustrated. _Why Does the Fire Nation have to attack when everything is finally going well! I hate the Fire Nation. What did the world do to deserve them? Oh Spirits, where will we go in the Earth Kingdom? How will we find Aang a teacher there?_ Sokka's body ached with confusion fear and anger, even though he would never show it. He was now heading to the water bending practice arena in hopes to find Katara. _This is not going to be easy._ When he arrived he found Katara sitting in a corner, crying. _I guess she heard some of the news._

"Tara?" He called out softly, as he approached. "What's wrong?"

"I hate the Fire Nation. They are going to destroy this whole place." She shouted through tears, "It's not fair. They'll kill everyone, just like they killed mom. I hate them. Why does this always happen to us. As soon as we get something good, they come and destroy it. They're monsters." Katara gushed, "Well I've had enough, We are staying here and we are going to stop the Fire Nation from hurting anyone else. Aang is the avatar, he'll save everyone!"

 _This is going to be harder than I thought._ Sokka thought to himself as he listened to his little sisters ramblings. "Tara?"

"Yeah Sokka?" Katara said feebly.

 _"_ We are leaving tomorrow."

"What! We can't. Aang is the Avatar! We have to help these people!" She shouted. "All you care about is yourself. You just want to get away so you can be safe. Well guess what! These people won't be safe when the Fire Nation attacks them! I can't believe you want to run away. What about Yue? Are you just going to leave her and everyone else to die? Just like you left Suki and Kyoshi Village to die at the hands of the Fire Nation!" Katara was panting by the end of her rambling speech.

"Enough!" Sokka shouted, one too many nerves of his had been struck, "Dad put me in charge when he left, and if I say we leave tomorrow, we leave tomorrow!"

Katara began crying again.

000

 _Why is this man hugging me so hard? Who is he? Is he my father?_ The small confused boy started to squirm. _He's sleeping. Should I wake him?_ The boy stopped squirming for fear of waking the man. _I'm really hungry._ It was true, he hadn't eaten in days, but he didn't know that. _I'm really hungry._

 _000_

It was late afternoon, and Lee was waking up. At first he wasn't sure why he had awoken. He was still exhausted, but he hadn't any nightmares while he was sleeping. Lee realized he was hugging the child in a crushing grip. He loosened his grip and the small boy started to squirm. _Oh my Spirits he's awake._ Lee had absolutely no clue what to do at this point. The boy squirmed out of his grasp, stood up and examined Lee.

"Who are you?" the child asked curiously, "Are you my father?"

Lee was caught completely off guard. "I'm Lee. And uh I'm also not your father."

The child was unfazed, "Do you have any food? I'm really hungry."

That much made sense, Lee was also hungry. "Well, uh" _Toph's bag!_ Lee remembered, and scrambled over to get it. There were ten gold coins in it. _I guess she really is from the richest family in the southern earth Kingdom._ "Let's go buy some food."

"Ok," the child said happily, but when he began to walk, he found he was really dizzy. Lee noticed that the kid was having trouble staying on his feet. "Kio" he called out, and miraculously Kio came. Lee scooped up the child and set him on the ostrich horse, and began leading them into Gaoling. "So what's your name?" Lee asked. The boy frowned. "Don't you know?" Lee was very confused. "I'm not sure, so tell me about yourself." The boy's frowned deepened. "Well, my name is Tai. And I … I don't really know. I can't remember." It was Lee's turn to frown, "Wait, what do you mean you don't remember?" Tai looked at him earnestly, "The first thing I remember is a strange man hugging me really tightly!" Tai giggled. "That was you." Lee met eyes with Tai. His eyes were pale gold, but _different. They're just like Uncle's. Damn I miss Uncle._ Black hair streamed down to his eye brows. "What food do you like?" Lee asked Tai. "Hmm, I don't remember. Oh can I have that one!" Tai pointed to a vender selling kababs of some mystery meat, that honestly Lee wasn't eager to try. "Let's stay away from that one. We don't want to get sick. What about this one?" Lee pointed to a vender selling some sort of noodles. Tai nodded eagerly, "I'm so hungry, I don't really care." Lee bought three bowls of noodles (and still had four silver pieces change, gold went really far in Gaoling). He gave one to Tai, who happily began eating and started leading Kio and Tai around Gaoling. _Where is Song…? Oh I hope she forgives me._ Lee's relief over Tai being ok was suddenly replaced by anxiety about Song. Song was in fact, the first friend he ever made.

Finally he found Song sleeping in a street corner. "Song?" he called out. "Who's she?" Tai asked curiously. Song stirred. "Lee?"

"Hey" Lee said sheepishly, "I brought you some food."

"Thanks," Song took it without question, and began eating.

"Song, this is Tai," Lee gestured to the boy on the ostrich horse, "Tai this is Song."

000

Lao had finally reached the end of his nerves with Toph. She had been sneaking off constantly, causing trouble and destruction. "Toph Beifong?" he said sternly.

"Yes Dad?" she said in her most pitiable voice, but she knew he wasn't going to fall for it.

"Your mother and I will be sending you to Omashu School for Young Ladies." He told her, "If you behave and pass your classes, then you can come home after the first year, otherwise, you stay until you pass your classes."

"No!" Toph almost screamed, "They bind feet there! How could you!" Toph was now genuinely afraid

Poppy's face softened, "Now Toph, they don't bind feet until second year, so just pass all of your classes and you'll be ok."

"I can't believe you would do this to me! I hate you." Toph began to cry.

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 **AN:** Sorry this update took me a little longer... the Copa America is just too much for me to miss. Now that schools out I should be able to update more often. But no promises as long as the Copa America is going on. So in this chapter, not much happens other than people crying a lot. So Tai has generalized amnesia; that resulted from carbon monoxide poisoning, and a prolonged comatic state. Remember to review! I have no clue how I'm doing, and no one has told me. Except .58, you are awesome. Um that's everything! Stay tuned for the next chapter.


	4. Chapter 4: Wanted

_Chapter 4: Wanted._

 _Dad keeps this room way to dark,_ Azula mused as she entered the throne room. She bowed at the entrance, as was the custom. "Rise" came the voice drifting across the dimly lit throne room. She rose and proceeded to the halfway point and bowed again. "Rise." The familiar voice resounded through the room again. She finally reached the closest spot to the throne in which she was allowed. She went down on her knees. This time no voice came. "Father, why have you summoned me?" she said, with a hint of a smirk. She did in fact, already know why. She was a part of all of the war meetings, and needed only to be given official orders. "Azula," a deep voice rumbled, "I have decided that you will head north to make sure that nothing goes awry in the invasion. If you succeed, then you will have validation as my heir," a pause, "Otherwise, well there will be _consequences._ I am giving you absolute power over any operation regarding the North, unless I have directly called for anything myself."

"I will not fail." Came Azula's sharp confident voice.

"Dismissed."

000

"Why are we leaving Gaoling?" It was an innocent question from Tai, but the answer gave Lee about four simultaneous headaches. It was sunrise, and both Tai and Lee had woken up. Lee told Tai to pack his things, but Tai didn't have anything to pack. So Lee then gave Tai a couple silver pieces and told him to go buy some fruit. While he was off Lee packed his stuff and woke Song. Song was not in a good mood. "Listen Lee, if that is even your name, we are contacting the North, I hope you have a plan for that because I don't! Then you are escorting me to Ba Sing Se where I can finish healer training. Song had been up all night trying to figure out what to do. She saw Tai coming back and put on a smile. "Hey Tai, did you buy us some fruit?" Tai beamed at her, "I got some peaches!" He held out his hand and sure enough there was a bag full of peaches. Everyone took one, except Lee took two and fed one to Kio. "We need to be leaving soon." Lee spoke as they were eating their peaches. "I think we need to buy another ostrich horse." Song nodded. Lee got up and headed to the market, leaving Song and Tai alone for the first time.

"So Tai, what's in that bag?" Song said gesturing to the black bag on Kio, that Lee had found Tai clutching,

"What bag?" Tai asked curious.

"Well when Lee and found you, you were holding on to that bag so tightly that we just took it with us." Tai frowned. Lee had told him the story of how he was found several times already (of course Lee didn't tell Tai most of what happened), but Lee had never mentioned a bag. _Maybe he just forgot._ Tai got up and took the bag from Kio. "Its just a rock." Tai said confused as he peered into the bag. Song was now also confused. "A rock?" Tai handed her the black leather bag, and sure enough, inside was a fist sized rock. "Maybe Lee knows what it is supposed to be." Tai suggested. Song nodded and the two sat there in silence for a little while.

Lee returned with an ostrich horse, and the three set off for the nearest Fire Nation Colony, Tai riding with Lee, and Song was on her own, named Kien. Lee planned to buy a messenger hawk, because it was the best long distance communication.

 _000_

The three arrived at a buffer town for the Fire Nation Colony of Shamosun at four hours past noon. A guard checked their papers but Tai didn't have any papers. The guard simply gave him a child stamp denoting that he did not live in the area. The three proceeded to buy food from a small teahouse. From there they went to an inn which Lee paid for with Toph's money. He still had seven gold left. At the inn, Tai and Song went to sleep immediately, for it was Songs first time sleeping in a real bed for nearly two weeks, and Tai's first time in his memory of ever sleeping in a real bed. Lee however, sat at a table and began to write.

General Iroh,

This is your good friend Mushi the Tea Master from the Shaanxi Province in the Colonies. I have discovered a new tea recipe which is most excellent. For confidentiality, I have coded the recipe into your cipher.

 _航空你是一幫踢利球的利我知你可利以開始離_ _產_ _開巴基斯坦節可叔叔。_ _產_ _巴勒斯坦硒_ _產品_ _不應該知道，但嘿，我不是在回家利你想利我的名譽的照片。漢不紫，我訪問你航空讓你的名_ _字_ _的處理_ _巴_ _器，挽救一個人的我要保護的利益_ _"_ _哦以開利_ _產_ _始離開_ _產_ _巴基斯坦_

The cipher was actually the script used in his favorite book, the dragon and the sun. Iroh seemed to think knowing how to write in a script of dragon claw scratches was important. So Iroh had drilled it into his head in the three years of being on a ship with him. Now he finally knew why. Lee's next Letter was much shorter.

 _The Fire Nation is coming._

\- Lee

Lee figured He wasn't betraying the Fire Nation because the Water Tribe would notice if a Fire Nation Invasion Fleet was amassing outside their home, and that that the hawk would probably die before it ever reached the North Pole.

After finishing both letters, he plopped onto the bed next to the sleeping Song and Tai, and fell asleep himself.

 _000_

"I present to you the city of Omashu" Sokka announced as he, Aang, and Katara rounded the crest of a mountain. They had been walking for the last few hours so that the nearby fire nation encampment would not see them head into Omashu. Omashu, even at the distance they were at, was gargantuan. Each of it's too smaller divisions could make a large city on their own; the central division was larger than both of the two smaller ones combined.

"Aright, let's go!" Aang chimed in, and the three began heading towards the city. After two hours of descending mountain slopes, they made it to the bridge. _No wonder the Fire Nation hasn't taken the city in a Hundred Years of War._ Sokka mused. As they approached the guards a steely voice called out, "Halt." The trio stopped. "State your names and business."

"Oh, I'm the avatar." Aang said innocently. Sokka cringed, _What ever happened to keep a low profile._

"Very well. The King has ordered us to escort you to him as soon as you arrive."

000

"So you're not going to teach me earth bending?" Aang replied to Bumi glumly.

Bumi just began to cackle madly, "No, you need to find a teacher that waits, and listens to the earth. In fact, I believe your teacher is currently here in Omashu, at the Ladies Academy."

"The Ladies academy?" Sokka cut in excited.

"Oh yes, its where they send the prettiest girls from this half of the Earth Kingdom to learn how to be ladies." Bumi continued to cackle. Sokka looked like he might drool just from the thought, but Katara slapped him first.

She began, "So… King Bumi, who exactly is this person?"

Bumi looked at Katara with his mad gaze and said, "You tell me"

 _000_

"Princess, we have intercepted two suspicious letters, one from an unmarked hawk, and one from a hawk of the Shaanxi province in the colonies." The informant bowed after finishing his statement.

"The one from the unmarked hawk simply said that the fire nation was coming. We suspect it was heading for the Northern Water Tribe. "Azula tapped her fingers in annoyance, "And the other?" she asked sharply. "Oh yes, it is for General Iroh, claiming to be from Tea Master Mushi in the Shaanxi province, and it has a revolutionary tea recipe written down in a code of some sort." Azula sighed, "So why are you bothering me with this?" The informant trembled for a moment then regained his composure, "Well, no one should know where to send a messenger hawk to contact the General, and according to our records, there is no such Tea Master Mushi in the Shaanxi province." Azula was pleased with the amount of work the informant had put into researching these, "Very well. Have the stray hawk fed and kept here, and translate the cipher and send me a transcript. Do not let Iroh know we have it. Dismissed" The informant bowed and left the room. Azula's Command Room is actually the General's Hall of Zhao's Flagship. Zhao had spared no expense to accommodate himself, and now that he was gone, she might as well not waste it.

000

"I'm sorry, but we do not teach earth bending in the Ladies' Academy." The desk attendant politely told Aang. "But who will teach me earth bending?" he exclaimed.

"Perhaps Bumi meant a student." Sokka chimed in eagerly. Aang nodded, "Well how do we figure out who it is?" Sokka thought a moment, "We could hang around and look for potential candidates."

"We are not going to stare at pretty girls all day!" Katara exclaimed.

"Do you have any better ideas?"

"We could… uh" Katara thought but nothing came to mind.

"Then it's settled. We hang around here and look for prospective teachers" Aang declared happily.

The trio spent the next few hours milling around campus. Katara was fuming the whole time and Aang was chatting with every girl who admitted to being an earth bender. Sokka wandered off and found himself meandering through the hallways of a large building. "Hey, big guy" a small voice came from one of the classrooms. Sokka checked inside the classroom and there was one small girl sitting in a desk all alone. "How may I serve you?" he asked jokingly, as if he were a servant. The small girl answered anyway, "I need you to read me whatever is on the paper on the desk."

"Uh ok… there's a paper that says "Toph Oral Exam: Flower Arrangements" Sokka said unsure.

"Yeah read what it says" the girl demanded.

"Ok, it's got a table that says:

Funeral: simple white, no greens

New Year: Nearly opened buds, many greens

Harvest: Yellow, no greens." Sokka continued reading the list until he finished.

000

 _Ugh how do they expect me to remember all of this! I don't really even know what these colors mean!_ Toph was very annoyed. How was she ever supposed to pass a class on traditional flower arrangements? Luckily that strange guy, Sokka, had read her all of the answers to her test just moments before she took it. She may have passed this one, but she had no clue how she was supposed to make it through an entire semester of this.

000

"Did anyone have any luck?" Sokka asked as he met up with Aang and Katara again. They both shook their heads.

"I knew standing around all day watching girls was a bad idea. Plus it's just creepy." Katara fumed.

"Let's get something to eat" Sokka cut in before Katara could say anything else.

000

"Princess, we believe we have properly deciphered the second letter we intercepted."

"Took you long enough." In truth it had been four days, "Well what does it say?"

"Yes," the informant produced a scroll and began to read, "Uncle Iroh, this is Zuko. I needed to let you know that I am still alive, but currently I am escorting the healer who saved my life to Ba Sing Se as payment for saving my life. I am aware that you are supervising the invasion of the North, so you should know that the Water Tribe will be expecting the Fire Nation. When I leave Ba Sing Se, I will capture the Avatar and return home with my honor. If you should need to find me, I am travelling under the name Han Jee. Sorry but there is no revolutionary tea Idea."

Azula was shocked. "That bastard is still alive?" she muttered, "At least I can have him arrested for travelling under false pretense."

The informant was now afraid because he knew firsthand what Azula did to people when she was angry, and Azula was angry. "Princess?" he questioned softly.

"Send a message to my father. Tell him Zuko still lives but is a traitor for a minor offense. Put a warrant on his arrest and the arrest of Han Jee throughout the whole Earth Kingdom territories. Copy the original letter then send it to General, have a spy observe his actions. Also arrange for spies to find and collect information on Ba Sing Se"

Lo cut in, "Princess, perhaps it is unwise to take action outside your personal area of control."

"Lo is right." Li added

"I do not care. Zuko has betrayed the Fire Nation."

000

"Guys I had a crazy dream last night, but I think it might give us a lead on who my earth bending teacher is supposed to be." Aang was almost shouting as he woke Sokka and Katara up.

"Well what was it?" Katara asked groggily.

"I was in King Bumi's earth bending chamber, and there was a girl wearing a Ladies' Academy Uniform, and a headband with a white boar with wings on it. The girl laughed at me then made a giant ear out of the earth"

"Well that's a start, did you see anything else?" Katara asked.

Aang smiled sheepishly, "Well at one point I was riding Momo through an air temple."

"Wait did you say a flying boar?" Sokka interrupted groggily

"Yeah, why?"

"Well this girl I helped out yesterday was wearing a headband with a flying boar on it…"

"Great… uh, how exactly were you helping her?" Aang asked.

"Well she asked me to read her a paper called 'Tough Oral Exam,' It was all about flower arrangements. I'm not sure why though. It was on the teacher's desk, but she could have easily walked over and read it herself."

"Sokka, you helped her cheat!" Katara chided exasperated. Sokka just shrugged.

"We might as well try and find her." Aang stated.

The trio set off to the Ladies Academy sometime later. Much to everyone's surprise, she was alone in the same room as yesterday.

000

 _Its Sokka again, why is he back._ Toph mused as she waited for her teacher to read her the exam. She couldn't read the words on the tests they gave everyone else so she had to have some read her the tests and it was really annoying. Not only that but they tested her on the most ridiculous things like flower arrangements.

"Hello Sokka." She called out, ignoring the other people with him, they felt like children to her.

"Hello uh…"

"Toph" she said.

Aang had already had enough pleasantries, "Greetings Toph, I'm Aang the Avatar, and this is Katara, and well I was wondering if you would teach me earth bending."

Ok. That was a lot to take in. _How does he know I'm an earth bender? I thought the avatar wasn't even real… but he is, and he's a kid?_ "Why do you expect me to just 'teach you earth bending'?"

Aang thought a moment, "Because I'm the avatar, and I had a dream about it?"

 _This guy is a weirdo…_ "Nope sorry, I won't"  
"What!" Katara broke in, "He's the Avatar! You have to. How is the fire nation going to pay if the Avatar can't even earth bend?"

"Wait, what do you mean pay?" Toph asked, her father warned her about people who want collect debts that are not owed.

"They're all evil, they killed my mother, they just destroy everything, and so they should have the same done to them… they all can burn in the spirit world…" Katara whispered in cold furry. "Uh Katara… actually…" Aang began but was quickly interrupted by an old lady.

"Who are you people, oh nevermind, I need to escort Miss Toph to the Headmaster's office"

000

"Miss Toph, there have been reports of you cheating on several tests…"

"What! That's absurd! Who told you that?" Toph cried out

The headmaster ignored her protest and continued, "Therefore, you will not be allowed to graduate this year, we have a zero tolerance policy for cheating. You will finish this semester, then be sent home for the next semester. You may reapply for the beginning of next year."

It was at that moment, Toph's fears were realized, _I already failed my class, they'll bind my feet._ It was at the moment Toph decided to leave Omashu, the Earth swallowed her into a tunnel under the headmaster's office and she began making her way to her dorm, by means of the underground. When she arrived she found that Sokka and his friends were there too.

"What are you doing here?" she asked accusingly.

"Well we figured we would wait for you while you spoke to the headmaster."

"Leave me alone you creeps." She nearly shouted, in a very bad mood.

"Told you it was creepy," Sokka muttered under his breath to Aang. Toph picked up a bag and the Earth swallowed her, yet again. The trio stood there dumbfounded staring at the floor where toph was moments ago.

No one had time to speak before screaming started resounding throughout the halls. The Fire Nation was attacking.

"Aang, we need to help stop the Fire Nation." Katara said.

"No, I need to follow Toph, You and Sokka go find Bumi."

"Aang's right about finding Bumi." Sokka cut in, figuring Bumi was the safest place for his sister, "But Aang, if you don't find her, meet us back here in an hour.

The trio split apart, Sokka dragging Katara with him to Bumi. Unfortunately for them, Omashu was a very large city and by the time they made to the central tier, news had reached them that King Bumi Surrendered without a fight, and that there would be a meeting for all citizens at sundown. They noticed that Fire Nation Soldiers were slowly filing into the city, and much to Katara's surprise, they were not burning anyone who shouted at them. In fact, Katara had not seen a single soldier use fire bending in the whole takeover of Omashu.

Sokka decided that they should return to find Aang and leave. He did not like being around so many Fire Nation soldiers. When they got back to Toph's dorm room, they found Aang, just sitting there glumly. "There's no trace of her." He pouted dully, "I'm never going to learn earth bending."

"Wait just one moment, and let the master tracker try" Sokka said, purposely ignoring the fact that Omashu was now a Fire Nation Colony. He walked over to the spot where Toph had disappeared. He pulled out his club and wacked the earth as hard as he could _. Just as I suspected_. A small hole opened up revealing a larger one. "Guys I think there might be a passage down here." And so the three began chipping away to gain access to the tunnel Toph had created. Aang _wanted_ Toph to be his earth bending teacher, and had for now, forgotten all about the Fire Nation invasion.

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 **AN:** Well that took a long time to write so I hope you like it. If you don't like Gaang narrative, well don't worry, there won't be to much more, if you do like Gaang narrative, sorry. Also if anyone wants to become a beta reader for my story, PM me. Sorry if this chapter wasn't interesting, but the plot needs to be motivated somehow. Also if you are confused, there is 16 days left until the invasion. Lee Tai and Song have been travelling to Ba Sing Se this whole time, and Iroh is going to regret praying to Tui and La. Remember to Review!


	5. Chapter 5: Ferries of Ba Sing Se

"Song, can I talk to you?"

"Sure" came the mumbled response

There was only one day left until they reached the ferries Ba Sing Se. Song would go and find a master in Ba Sing Se. Lee could not enter because he was not a citizen of the Earth kingdom, and Han Jee now had a warrant for arrest. Anxiousness about what he should do was killing him. He had to catch the Avatar. That was his goal. The one constant over the last three and a half years. Everything else was a mess.

"Well" This wasn't going to be easy for him. He glanced up. _Good._ Tai was sleeping soundly after a long day of travel. Song stared, her eyes unfocused. She had been very dethatched since the day she found out about Lee. "Will you take Tai to Ba Sing Se."

-Silence-

"Please," Lee begged, "If not for me, for him. You know they won't let me in to Ba Sing Se without papers, and he can't travel with me. It's too dangerous."

Song stared into the horizon as if trying to see through the blackness of night and into the spirit world. Several moments passed as she thought, then nodded. "I will take him to an orphanage." _If there is one_ The truth was that Song quite liked the kid, but she was not ready to raise someone's child. Both Lee and Song knew that leaving Tai would crush him, because they were all he knew. Guilt was already weighing down on their souls, but they knew of no better options. _At least I can visit him once in awhile…_

000

"Princess, The General is here to speak to you."

"Tell him I will meet with him as soon as I am available." Princess Azula had no intention of meeting with her uncle, unless absolutely necessary.

"There is no need as I am already here." Iroh said as he strolled into the room. _He just disrespected me! And the guards aren't doing anything about it._ _Perhaps he is not the only traitor in my presence._ Azula mused; she might hate losing her men, _its terribly inefficient_ , but oh how she would enjoy their faces as she assigned them to scouting missions in the Northern Water Tribe.

"Princes, I believe our invasion of the North has been betrayed" _This might be interesting… Iroh to turn against Zuko?_ Her uncle produced a letter – not the one Zuko had sent him, but it had the same strange script. "I have received a letter from one of my spies," _because calling the old guys you play Pai Sho with spies makes them so official and reliable, Azula thought wryly._ Iroh continued _, "_ The letter claims the avatar has warned the Northern _Water Tri_ be and that the people have begun an evacuation for the deeper north. The city will likely be filled with all sorts of traps and have hidden soldiers to plunge us into freezing waters around every corner. I advise tha-"

"Iroh, thankyou for the information uncle," Azula cut in, "You are dismissed, I expect full reports on anything you know, I _will find out otherwise"_ Azula smirked.

The old general bowed, "There is one more thing you should know, your brother is alive." Azula remained impassive _Dammit I know. Why would you tell me, someone who celebrated at his death? What are you up to uncle?_ He had left the room before she could finish wondering.

000

 _That was interesting…_ The old general sighed content. _My niece, you are not the only descendent of Sozin here. You best remember that._ Iroh had not had any reason to flex his mind and use his cunning for six years and oh it felt so good to plot again. Tampering with the messages to the fire lord was easy enough. Burn both copies of the letter Zuko sent him. Done. Replace the now-burnt letter with a fabricated one from his spy. Done. Now any claims of his or Zuko's treason would seem ridiculous and Azula was still trying to prove herself worthy heir to the Firelord. If he was lucky, Azula and the firelord might even heed his warning not to invade the water tribe city. What he had told Azula had been true, strictly speaking.

0000

This was it. It was officially the worst day of Sokka's life. First, some small bratty earthbender is supposed to teach Aang earthbending as willed by the most completely wise and completely real spirits (No matter how bad something was, sarcasm is always a comfort), but she runs off. Then the Fire Nation Army attacks Omashu. _Spirits there were a lot of soldiers… and tanks. If Bumi hadn't surrendered immediately we could have –_ He didn't want to think about it, but he _Knew_ there was no way Omashu wasn't falling to the Fire Nation. _If Aang hadn't been looking for that stupid girl… if the fire nation had recognized him – Mother Moon it would have been bad._ And that – the fire nation attack hadn't even been the _worst part_. Sokka convinced them to follow Toph into the tunnel – he figured it was much safer, and they would be out of Omashu. Aang took some time to convince because he didn't want the fire nation to ruin Omashu too. Katara looked at him coldly and made a remark on how the Fire Nation ruins everything. What finally convinced him to go was that _Oh Aang,_ _surely Bumi has a plan to take back his city._ _Yeah right… he probably took one look at their sheer numbers and knew the city was done for._ But Sokka didn't mention that. It wasn't really as important as leaving Omashu. That is where the worst part of his day came in. Wandering through a pitch black tunnel for what felt like hours. _How did she do this. Geeze I don't think Katara could waterbend this much for a whole hour._ He felt like an idiot. There was no way to see what he was doing or where he was going, and the rest of his group were literally blindly following him, 'the master tracker'.

0000

"Send for Izumi." Azula commanded one of her attendants. Even though she was only a year older than Azuka, Izumi was her favorite aid; she was unassuming, polite, pretty, and very traditional. She was extremely hardworking and intelligent. _It's a shame Zuzu a traitor to the nation, she would make a marvelous princess._ A few moments passed and Izumi arrived. When she entered she bowed deeply and remained bowed. "At ease, Izumi." Izumi met her eyes, "Princes?"

"I need you to find the chi-blocker Ty-Lee, and escort her to Omashu. Tell her that I will personally meet her there."

0000

 _This is not going to be fun._ Lee had been dreading this all day. _How am I supposed to tell a child who trusts me that I'm abandoning him._ Lee knew the pain of being abandoned personally. _It's not like that. I'm not his mother._ But spirits it hurt. His whole being ached, and he hadn't even crushed Tai's. _What if he hates me? – So what, I'll never see him again anyway, and I have no obligation to him._

"Lee what's wrong? Why are you so sad? We are almost to Ba Sing Se!" Tai asked earnestly.

Lee looked at him soberly for a moment, but before he could say anything, Song cut in, "Lee can't come to Ba Sing Se." Tai just stared at a moment blankly while trying to process what she said.

"But- " he looked pleadingly at Lee who grimly reciprocated his stare. "No. it can't. Lee!" Tai whispered horrified. "You said…" Tai began to shout, "You said we would go to Ba Sing Se! Now you're just gonna leave me and Song!"

"Tai… I have no choice. I'm Sorry"

"It's not fair!" the small child shouted, and a new sense of dread swept over him. _They'll Kill him. This is not good. No, not good is an understatement. This is a disaster. How could I have been so stupid! All the signs were there._ – Tai began to cry bringing Lee back into reality. _Ok stop. Breath. What are my options, or his options._ He would have to thank uncle one day for pounding that you have to stop and think into his head. But now? He had bigger problems. _If Tai goes to Ba Sing Se, he's dead in a year, or less. If Tai goes with me… he's got a small chance if I go to the colonies._ Lee frowned. _But the avatar isn't in the colonies is he? He needs to learn earthbending…_ There had been vague reports of omashu being taken by hordes of firebenders, and that the king went mad and changed sides. Lee had even overheard someone say everyone in Omashu all went mad as their king simultaneously, or that spirits punished them by raining down cursed cabbages. _Sounds like the avatar to me. Mai's family is in charge of settling people of new colonies. They're good people. It could work, if we can get there. With Tophs money, he could afford a boat to Omashu from the Kyoshi Islanders. They surely wouldn't interrupt trade for something trivial like a fire nation take over… No one likes them because they trade with people on both sides. You can't trust them._ But he would have to _Assuming they don't recognize me… I burnt down one of their villages._

" Song I need to talk to you." Lee began in a hushed whisper, "Tai is a firebender."

"Are you sure?" Song whispered back fiercely. Lee nodded. "Then He can't come to Ba Sing Se! One accident and they'll kill him. What are we going to do?"

"There was a recent Fire Nation takeover of Omashu. He should be safe there. I can take him on a kyoshi trade ship to omashu."

Song was nearly panicking but this seemed reasonable, "Alright, just promise me he gets somewhere safe." Lee frowned, "Nowhere is completely safe, but I will do my best."

At that Song pulled Lee into her tight embrace, "Good Luck." Being plastered against another human was uncomfortable but somehow, all of his insecurities and anxieties drained from him, and he reciprocated the hug. "G-Good luck to you, also" Lee stammered.

Song then turned to a tearful and confused Tai. "Tai," she said quietly, "I have to go to Ba Sing Se, but we decided that you should go with Lee instead of me. It's to protect you" Song paused for a moment, "I want you to be good for him, and no matter what happens, no matter what you remember from before us, remember who you are now." It hurt, what she said to Tai, it hurt Tai, but it hurt Lee so much more. As Song hugged Tai, all of Lee's anxieties flowed back into him and he felt heart sick. _There was no way Song could know… but she said that anyway._ It was like watching one of his worst memories. It Hurt to much, he looked away. When he looked back, Song was gone, she had disappeared into the crowd with her pack, and Tai was standing there sad and empty. Lee took Tai's hand, "Tai, have you ever been on a boat?" and they walked off with their supplies.

000

AN: Sorry it's been so long and theres such a short chapter, but it is what it is. I'm trying to work on my writing style so any CONSTRUCTIVE criticism is helpful, but I would say that I understand that my grammar is horrible. But if you think my grammar is horrible, just wait and see what happens to Izumi. * _Laughs evilly because I can torture fictional characters however I please_ * Also say farewell to Song for a while, but if anyone knows who **Charlotte Corday** is, then they might know what's to come for her. Yeah, I know a lot of this stuff is unoriginal, but I liked it so much I just had to have it. If it offends anyone that much, well I'm sorry but this is Fan Fiction, and I'm a Fan of just about every Fictional story I read. Even if the grammar and spelling is as bad as mine. Remember to review please!


	6. Chapter 6: To Omashu

_Appa! Oh no we left Appa in Omashu!_ _"_ Uh, Sokka? I know you want to sleep, but we left Appa in Omashu."

"Well that's just great. We can either go back to the fire nation colony to find Appa, or we can search for your prophesized earthbending teacher." Sokka sounded really tired and angry. "So you are going to have to choose _, earthbending or Appa,_ but remember we can always go back to find Appa, but if we leave now we will probably never see that earth girl again. _"_ Sokka was quite sure he didn't want to see her again, but he did not spend hours blundering through darkness to quit searching as soon as they could see again. Aang stopped and thought a moment. " I suppose we can look for her for a little while longer, but then we HAVE to go back to Omashu to get Appa. The Fire Nation would hurt Appa would they?"

"No Aang, they might use Appa to bait you, but they wouldn't hurt him." Aang relaxed at that, then looked at Sokka, "So how do we find Toph?"

"Well her tunnel was pretty much straight, and judging by this path of destruction, we head this way."

 _Huh? What path of destruction? Is Sokka seeing things? "_ Sokka, there is no path of destruction here."

Sokka snorted. "Not one that you can see, Master Tracker, remember? Now look this way," He pointed up the hill they were standing on, "She must have been really upset, because benders bend without thinking when they're upset. See how there is a thin veil of dust on these plants continuing in a line? She must have kicked it up as she moved, and her earthbending would increase the amount of earth kicked up. The same thing sometimes happened to Katara when I made her angry at the south pole. Heh" Aang and Katara both looked at him amazed.

"Sokka that's brilliant."Aang decided, and the trio began following the trail

0000

"Lee why do they keep staring at us?" Tai mumbled. He had been having a very bad few days on the water. He thought it must have been his first time riding a boat in his life. It wasn't like riding an ostrich horse for the first time he could remember with Lee, which was new, but it felt somehow familiar. The rocking of the boat was exhilarating, and awesome, but also terrifying. He couldn't get any sleep, even if he pretended to so that Lee would sleep. It was weird. Lee only slept if he thought Tai was sleeping. _Its like he thinks I might blow up if he's not looking at me._

Lee looked thoughtful for a moment, trying to figure out how to best phrase it to a child. _I might not remember anything but I'm not Stupid!_ "Well, these guys aren't ferrie workers, they're merchants, and they don't trust us. They are probably asking themselves how two refugees can afford to pay their captain to take us to their port. Tai, they probably think we are thieves, but we aren't. And sincence we haven't done anything wrong, so we have nothing to fear. Ok?" Tai mumbled his repronse and Lee looked at him intensely, as if trying to solve a puzzle. "Tai, I talked to the captain because you seem seasick to me and he gave me some ginger candy." Lee produced a small lump wrapped in waxy paper.

"I'm not seasick." Tai said defensively but took the candy regardless. He didn't feel sick, just terrified. It tasted tart, and gave a slight burning sensation in the back of his throat. Moments later Tai was asleep, dead to the world. _Heh, he's right about not being seasick,_ Lee mused, _I completely forgot the what its like to travel over deep oceans for the first time._ Firebenders when travling over oceans become… jumpy. His uncle said it was something like, _the oceans eat sunlight and give only waves back. It brings a sense that sunlight has abandoned you and the oceans are a place of death. It causes firebenders to feel alone the first time they face it, because they are in a place Agni does not meddle – often_ his uncle had added. Lee took the sleeping kid and moved him to his bed with a twinge of guilt. _It wasn't all ginger candy._ There had been a significant amount of poppy extract to make Tai sleep. It was the same thing that had finally coaxed him to sleep his first days at sea.

0000

He didn't want to wake Tai up, but they were near the shore now. The kid had slept for nine or ten hours. – clearly he had needed it. But they needed to get off the boat more. Just because they hadn't wronged the sailors – well… they had lied about their identities, but they couldn't help being firebenders, - didn't mean the sailors liked or trusted them. The few interactions Lee had with the sailors consisted of either him asking the captain to explain why he would do something (Earth kingdom ships are way different than fire nation ones), or to try and get information about his uncle or anything fire nation related from the sailors, who just told him useless information he already knew. So when he woke Tai up, he was very unhappy, but that was to be expected. Lee dragged Tai along so that they could pay respects to the captain and leave as soon as they got to the shore.

They found the captain on the helm, where they bowed and payed the captain the other half the fee. Even though the captain probably didn't like him, Lee took comfort in the similarities between the captain and his old helmsman, Jee. By the time they had gathered their things, the ship had docked, so Tai and Lee slipped away quietly. Lee found a vendor and bought food, and then bought an ostrich horse. Whatever this merchant port was, the prices were incredibly low. _That means all the other merchants are cheating you_ a voice in the back of his head nagged, but he quickly shut it off.

And so, Tai and Lee set off for Omashu on their mount, (named Zirsa).

"Do you think we'll ever see Song again?" Tai asked as they rode towards Omashu.

"I don't know" came a ruefull reply. _That's code for no_ Tai thought to himself glumly and decided not to ask anymore questions.

0000

 _Maybe running away wasn't such a good idea_. Toph hadn't exactly been in any state to think straight, She had just found out that she was failed at the academy – _which means foot binding –_ Toph shivered at the thought. _Foot binding is horrible and Disgusting._ So she had to run away. What she hadn't anticipated is that these creeps would be in her room, giving her no time to plan. So she left with no plan other than to head for the Beifong port outside Gaoling where she could regroup. But she didn't pack any food and it had been two days. She had gone without food before, but never two days. And she had no clue how far it was until she reached the port. She wasn't scared, but as it was, Toph was in a very bad mood. So when she heard someone tramping along in an ostrich horse, she, well, reacted.

"Freeze!" she shouted at the traveler.

"Not much choice" whoever was riding the ostrich horse muttered. It was true, they were encased in stone.

"Toph?" the man asked.

"Lee?" came an uncertain reply. She hadn't spent enough time with him to memorize his voice, but it had the same distinct accent, and rough edge.

"That's me." Lee breathed exasperated and relieved, "Would you please release us, we aren't here to destroy the earth kingdom."

"Lee who is she?" a third voice asked cautiously.

Toph was relieved that she met someone she knew. Even if they were fire nation, which didn't really bother her very much at the moment – _I bet they don't bind feet in the fire nations –_ so she bent the earthen casing back into the ground. She wouldn't ask for food just yet – If she seemed desperate, Lee might use that against her.

"Tai, this is Toph, Toph, this is Tai. " Lee introduced, then pause. "Toph, what are you doing all the way out here?"

"Well it's a long story, but basicly I ran away" she replied with a pause, "Where are you going?"

"Tai and I are heading to Omashu."

Toph hmphed. "Do you have any food perchance?" she said trying not to sound to eager. Lee nodded seeing write through her attempt to not sound hungry and Toph clicked her tongue. "You know, nodding or shaking your head is extremely useful for a blind person. We know Exactly what you meant by the rustling clothes from your direction."

"Oh, right, sorry." Lee said sheepishly as he dismounted, "I've got some dried meats of the mystery variety."

"Works for me." Toph noted and began to eat. "So why are you going to Omashu anyway?"

A moment passed. "it's complicated."

Several moments passed of Toph just eating dried meats that lee had given her.

"Well Tai and I have got to be on our way." Lee said growing tired of doing nothing.

"Good Luck. Theres no way I'm going back to Omashu."

000

"Katara?" Sokka said.

"Hmm?"

"I think we might be lost…"

"WHAT!"

 _I knew letting Aang go back to Omashu was a bad idea. But its not like we could have stopped him. He literally just took off and said he'd find us once he had Appa._ Sokka thought miserably. _Oh Spirits what are we to do?_

000

"Hello Mai, Ty Lee, Izumi" the princess greeted as the three bowed. "Izumi, you may retire, good work"

The princess turned to the two remaining girls. "I have a mission for you two. At the North Pole."

One mission briefing later when the two girls were finally at eased, Ty Lee hugged Azula fiercly, "Its so good to see you."

"I hate to interrupt your affections," Mai cut in "But we have a situation you might find interesting."

"Verywell." The princess said brushing of Ty Lee, "Explain"

"The Avatar's Bison is in Omashu, Leading us to believe he is here, conspiring with the Earth King. Preparations have been made for fighting, But It has been two days without incident or him showing himself. We haven't seen any of his allies here either."

Azula smirked. "We could perhaps spare some time before we head North again, I suppose.

0o0o0o0o0

AN: This chapter is short and Kind of boring I know, but it is the last chapter of the exposition. The Main story plot will begin Next chapter. And Oh boy, all hell will break loose. Also I just saw the HP movie and it is fantastic. I also saw Kubo Two Strings and it was even better! Highly recommend. It will probably be awhile for the next chapter sadly. Originally chapters four five and six and seven were all supposed to be part of chapter 4 but I didn't want to delay this to much. Also I changed the name to on distant shores because well you will see (Hopefully). Remember to review please!


	7. Chapter 7 : On Distant Shores

AN: Due to some of my rather obsessive characteristics, I may or may not have become entangled in another couple of fictional universes. I will therefor seek to wrap up this story in this final chapter in an unorthodox manner. But Fear not, instead of One Long Story about the Avatar Universe, There will be a second taking place Some Number of years Later and the events of this story will not have been in vain. However If your mind is closed in around the fantastic avatar universe, than it is best you avoid my next story, for it will expand the number of continents, the sentient races, the forms of magic (yes bending is a (powerful) form of magic). Also be warned that this chapter contains death. I recommend listening to some "sad piano music" on YouTube while you read this, to get the full effect If you have further questions, ask them in a review and I might write an epilog which could clarify some things Remember to look for the Sequel to this story on my account. So without further delay here is Chapter 8

Chapter 7: On Distant Shores

 _Is this real?_ Iroh had been grappling with reports ever since that fateful day in Omashu. They were all equally horrifying and unreal. In that one day, the whole world fell apart. Iroh picked up another report. It was the most confusing but most accurate of the reports. It was also the most painful. He read it again.

 _This is a description of the events of 15/3 in the 11_ _th_ _year of the reign of Fire Lord Ozai as witnessed by the Royal Guard._

 _In the morning, Azula had us assemble and march through Omashu. We were to make sure civilians stay inside as Azula was expecting something of violence and fighting later in the day. Our Patrols were successful and by noon the streets were empty, and a foreboding silence settled upon the city. At that point we were dismissed for lunch and we ate uneventfully. Azula sent us out for noon patrol and so we patrolled. We ran into a skinny man and his child, who we tried to send inside but he kept insisting he needed to see the governor of Omashu. He also kept itching his left eye like a madman and there seemed to be some sort of cream colored paste on it. So, we detained him and his child for unruly behavior. He was placed in his cell and informed that if he didn't stop shouting for the governor, or the princess would come and speak to him personally (an empty threat for she had no time for lowlifes like him). At that he seemed to go absolutely mad and began trying to escape the cell and seemed to be in pain. Because of the prisoner's madness, we assigned another guard to the cell and then resumed patrolling. Almost immediately the alarm was sounded and we thought the prisoner had escaped but we were mistaken. The Avatar had flown into the city almost immediately, he was netted out of the sky and we were sent to retrieve him. We found the avatar unconscious on the ground with several broken bones in the outer part of the city. As soon as we found him, we bound him and sent for reinforcements. When we brought the avatar before the princess, he was beginning to regain consciousness. As the Princess began speaking to him he became increasingly agitated. His eyes began to glow and he entered the avatar state. Almost immediately, the building we were in began to shake and fall apart. What happened next happened so quickly I am not sure if the description is completely accurate. As the building was falling apart, a large chunk of the ceiling fell upon Izumi, seeming to kill her instantly. Azula let out a wailing scream for Izumi was one of her closest friends, and the avatar fell out of the Avatar state, shocked at seeing death he caused, so close. Azula was so enraged that she laid her hand on the boy's head and sent lightning through him killing him. Everyone was stunned at the events and Azula began laughing just as the door burst open with our prisoner who had somehow escaped, but he had no paste on his eye nor child with him. But he did have a pair of swords. It was clear that the prisoner Prince Zuko. Upon seeing Azula with the Avatar's smoldering body he rushed forward and put a Dao through the princesses' Heart. Prince Zuko let out a cry of anguish as if he too had been impaled in the heart, however he got up and left so quickly and the guard were so stunned no one moved for nearly a minute._

Iroh's reading was interrupted by a servant bringing him more fire brandy, for his pain was to much to bear while sober. He took a sip and continued reading…

000

Many Months had passed for Iroh as he grew drunker and more miserable, when a letter arrived. It was, a letter from Zuko, and a painful one. Zuko spoke of a child and something of lizards which did not make sense. He also spoke of the BeiFong Family and woman named Song. Zuko had said he might come back someday and that he missed Iroh dearly. But in Iroh's drunkenness, he accidentally set the letter on fire. And only burnt fragments remained, as well as the pieces that his drunk mind remembered. Iroh, having been cut off from his alcohol by Ozai three days ago, picked up the only remaining legible scrap of Zuko's letter, and read it again.

 _…_ _sorry … the events and I can no longer bear to live with myself here, so I will therefor sail east into the unknown with Tai, in hopes of finding new land and new life on distant shores._

\- _Zuko._

Iroh stood up knowing he would very soon arrive on distant shores of another kind. He began walking, as difficult as it was, for he was in alcohol withdrawal. He continued until he reached the grave of his wife and memorial of the death of his son Lu Ten. The walk required so much effort and collapsed there. The world blackened around him and he welcomed the blackness, knowing it would end his misery and that he would soon be with his family forever. Movement's before he completely was gone, a great fear struck him, causing himself to doubt if the afterlife was real after all and he clung to life. Then every moment, every detail, all his pain, all his joys and triumphs, his loves, every sound, sight, touch, smell, every emotion poured through his mind. And Iroh let go. There was only one path now, and he had to trust his path was the right one. So, he took the blackness in, with faith that he would join his family there, on distant shores.


End file.
